Feature Stories

5 November 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Easing COVID-19 impact on key health services

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health systems and disrupted essential health services in Africa. Countries are working to restore and strengthen key services to better withstand shocks and ensure quality care. Regina Kamoga, the Executive Director of Uganda’s Community Health and Information Network and Chairperson of the Uganda Alliance of Patients Organizations, speaks about the impact of COVID-19 and solutions to restore essential health services.

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30 October 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Fighting fake immunization travel certificates with frontier technologies

At the main bus terminus in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, travellers heading to neighbouring Zambia can be tempted by offers of counterfeit travel vaccination certificates. A thriving black market there sells a fake proof of immunization for between US$ 15–20, says Dr Integrity Mchechesi, who works with a technology firm to combat such forgery.

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30 October 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Innovating for health in Niger

Ibrahima Guimba Saidou, Nigerian Minister and Special Advisor to the president, and CEO of the National Agency of Information Society, is spearheading the country’s digital transformation. He speaks about the efforts being made to drive innovation in health.

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30 October 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

‘Flying Doctors’ boost Nigeria’s COVID-19 testing

Red-gloved hands gently dip cotton swabs down nostrils and mouths of people taking turns to stand in front of a tall booth, masks lowered and head tilted backwards. Inside the booth to which the gloves are attached is a COVID-19 sample collector.

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23 October 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Benin boosts COVID-19 response with increased testing

Cotonou – Benin’s first COVID-19 case was diagnosed at the Viral Haemorrhagic Fever Laboratory in the capital Cotonou in March 2020. Then it was the country’s sole facility able to test for the virus. At best it could ca…

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22 October 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Benin boosts COVID-19 response with increased testing

Benin’s first COVID-19 case was diagnosed at the Viral Haemorrhagic Fever Laboratory in the capital Cotonou in March 2020. Then it was the country’s sole facility able to test for the virus. At best it could carry out only 300 tests per day.

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16 October 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Battling COVID-19 in communities

Kampala – In a low-income suburb of Makindye, in the Ugandan capital, Hakim Kiggundu has gathered a group of around 30 people from the community near his home, under a tree in a clearing among the houses. In th…

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13 October 2020 | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Keeping displaced persons safe from COVID-19 in South Sudan

As the world’s youngest country readied measures to prevent widespread COVID-19 infections, its years of conflict and natural disasters suddenly presented an unparalleled challenge: protecting thousands of displaced pers…

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